Chapter 6 The Tomb and The City

The tomb was still the dust had settled hours ago, I strained my ears but could hear nothing, looking around I could see the shattered remains of the Warrior golem. The girl was gone, but for a moment I tasted her blood on my lips and I remembered her dark eyes looking at me, she had been saying something about a cost but all I could remember was that I would not change into a Vampire.

It was time to get up, and with a smooth movement I stood up, there was no pain or stiffness, I felt good actually, very good. Glancing over the room I saw a stone sarcophagus in the middle of the room and aside from the broken golem, the room was empty. Walking over to stone coffin I noted that it had an inscription carved into the stone face.

My message icon began to blink and I opened it to see I had received another quest it read,

You have discovered the tomb of a long-forgotten King, and have survived the attack of its defender

Do you have the strength to reveal what is hidden, or will you leave and return to safety

For those willing to risk all, much will be gained

I accepted without a second thought, I had gone too far to be scared off from vaguely worded warnings. The stone lid looked heavy it was at least four feet wide and seven feet long, with a depth of six inches. I knew that it must weigh at least half a ton or more. I grasped the edge and with a surge of strength I tried to push the lid to the side. I am not sure what was more of a surprise, the fact that it slowly moved or what I found within the coffin.

With the stone finally pushed over I could see the skeletal remains of a man, not much was left of him just a skeleton and near his feet a small wooden chest. When I reached down to pull out the wooden chest I brushed against the chainmail he wore and watched in amazement as the whole skeleton turned to dust. Putting the wooden chest down I gently began to pull out the armor, starting with the boots. I then lifted out the grieves and then the chainmail pants and the belt. I then took out the gauntlets and the vambraces along with the pauldrons. I finally lifted out the hauberk and gorget and placed them gently on the floor. The last thing to come out was a longsword, it was unblemished the long years of being hidden away had not damaged it.

I took my time and cleaned the gear, carefully shaking out the dust back into the sarcophagus and once that was done I once again applied my strength to the rock cover and slowly moved it back to its resting place. I gathered all the gear and began to place it in the bag I had found at the creek. I watched in amazement as it all went in, in some ways the game was so lifelike and in other ways, it was just unbelievable. Taking one final look around at what had almost become my tomb I wiggled my way out of the opening into the daylight.

I slowly made my way over the barren fields and through the woodland belt into the forest proper, as I approached the river my gaze was constantly flickering, I was not in the mood for some Troll love if I encountered that Troll female. Fortunately for me, I crossed the creek without a problem and continued on eventually encountering more and more low-level players out grinding up their levels. Once the temple was in view I saw that the knight was still present handing out the starter quests. There was no real line to approach him, just people grouping up, occasionally shoving each other out of the way. I could feel my lips tighten, I did not like crowds or rude asses but here I would have to deal with them.

After several minutes, I am close enough to approach the knight and as I make eye contact with him he nods at me and then gestures to the temple. I nod back and begin to walk towards the entrance. Once there I am greeted by a monk who asks, “What can we do to help you stranger?” I point at the knight who had dismounted and is handing his horse to a page who had come running to him.

“I am waiting for him, he indicated I should wait for him here.” As I spoke I could see the monk look at the knight and then back at me.

“If Sir Langshank wants to meet you here then please feel free to wait, I only ask that you wait here for him, the temple is off limits to all but monks and invited guests.” Once the monk finished speaking I nodded and watched as he walked away.

I could hear Sir Langshank approach and turning to greet him I spoke, “Sir I have completed the quests you have asked me to do and I think that you will be satisfied by what I have found out.”

Sir Langshank spoke and said, “Well done lad, I had a feeling when I saw you that you were a capable one. Unlike most of these strangers to the realm.”

I could hear the undercurrent of irritation in his voice and I could not blame him, to have to hand out simple quests all day long to rude people, it would piss me off.

“Enough about those outside, speak and tell me of your adventures. From when you left here to when you returned. I want to know everything.”

I started with the rescue of Travan which Sir Langshank found very funny, having a Troll female in heat chasing to humans to breed with was pretty uncommon. Once I began to tell of arriving at the mine and exploring it his attention was totally focused. When I mentioned the Rattacans he was startled but the anger that glowed in his eyes when I mentioned the barbecue death of a new player was startling. He asked several questions about the poor man but I could not provide answers. I had never been close enough to really see and details.

I then told of my near escape and the finding of the other tunnel at the lake and how I had managed to steal into the mages tent and retrieve the scrolls and then the Vampires. At the mention of Vampires, Sir Langshank looked startled and stopped me.

Sir Langshank quickly spoke, “Follow me lad, and do not tell anyone of what you saw into I tell you.” We turned and entered the temple, Sir Langshank leading the way we traversed several corridors and stairs until Sir Langshank stopped in front of a door. Banging on it until he heard a shouted enter he opened the door and led the way into the Prior’s office. The man seated behind the desk was large and muscled not what I would have thought the head of a group of monks would look like. He had a scowl when we walked in but on seeing Langshank he stood and walked over and gave the knight a hug.

“Brother, it has been too long, come you must share a bottle of wine with me.” Then looking at me the Prior said, “Who is this young man who stands with you, I can see he has seen what many of the newcomers have not, personal death and pain.”

Sir Langshank said, “This young man went on a quest for me, and upon his return, I knew I had chosen well. He explored the old mine across the barren fields, I sent him there expecting him to find wolves or rats. What he found was a nest of Rattacans which is bad enough, but then he witnessed a clan of Vampires attack and destroy the Rattacans. This boy was lucky enough to escape and bring us the word, as well he found several scrolls.”

“The Prior looking eager said, “The scrolls, give them to me.”

Something about the way he demanded I give him the scrolls bothered me, but I replied politely enough, “The scrolls are no more I read them and received what they had to give.” I was watching the Prior carefully and I could see the angry glint in his eyes for a moment before he recovered.

“That is truly unfortunate, those scrolls could have helped us here, tell me what were they. Teaching scrolls, or combat scrolls?” The Prior finished asking me about the scrolls and waited for my reply, unfortunately, he would be waiting for a long time, I had no attention of telling him anything about me, there was something about him put me on edge.

As he waited I glanced over at Sir Langshank and said, sir I have completed your quest, I would now like to receive my reward and then be on my way, I have a lot to do yet.” Sir Langshank looked surprised but the Prior looked angry, and with a muttered oath he said, “Boy do not test my patience, now answer my question.”

I was beginning to feel a deep anger start to smolder within my being but I simply smiled and gave the Prior the universal symbol that had worked so well on the stone golem in the tomb. I could tell that it really was a universal symbol as the Prior began to snarl at me and then reached out to grab me and pull me towards his desk. The Prior was a large man dressed in a simple robe, without any visible weapons, but he was level twenty-five and very powerful.

As he thrust me at his desk I kicked him as hard as I could in the stones. I watched as his face turned white and he fell to the floor grabbing at his manly bits of bruised flesh. Without thinking, I had pulled both of my daggers and was advancing on the writhing Prior. I was going to finish this dude off, his attitude and the fact that he had laid hands on me was enough, this starting zone was supposed to be pvp free and there was no way an npc should have been able to attack me like that. Another glitch in the game.

I stopped when I felt Sir Langshank’s sword press against my neck. “It would truly be a pity if I were to have to kill you, I would not like that at all, but you can’t just go around attacking the Prior, it is not proper. However, the fact that you at your level managed to immobilize a level 25 is very impressive. So, put away your daggers and relax, you and I are going to go to the city, there is a man there that you will be seeing.”

“Suppose I don’t wish to go to the city, Langshank. For fun and giggles let’s say I want to stay here and level up, slowly working my way to the next level and so forth.” I looked at Langshank as I spoke and I knew that my words had little impact on him.

“Lad you have somehow become involved in something that is larger than you think, and because you have shown courage and resourcefulness I am going to be speaking on your behalf to a few people in the city. I have not a doubt that you will thrive, and level quickly.”

With that Langshank grabbed my arm and hustled me out of the Prior’s office, looking back he said, “Do stop rolling on the ground man, get a grip and get up, I will speak with you soon.” Ignoring the curses that came out from the office we left the temple, Langshank mounted his horse and then gripping my arm pulled me up, I rode behind him as he set off down a wooded pathway, we traveled for several hours slowly climbing a series of small hills until we stood before a large city wall with a huge open gate that led into the city itself. After entering the city Sir Langshank dropped my off at the city square after telling me to meet him at the Lion’s Head pub in three days.

I stared at him as he rode off sitting tall and proud on his horse. I was pissed, I had been dragged from the starting zone to the Kamak the capital city of man. Sure I had completed the quest he had given me and on the ride here and I had leveled up twice with the xp I received. The problem was this was not my plan to level nor how I wanted to play the game. Sighing I looked at my stats now I was at level four,

Fire blast

Does 55 to 75 fire damage

Ice blast

Does 55 to 75 ice damage

Health

Heals up to 60 percent of targets health

Stun

Stuns target for up to 5 seconds

Portal

Creates a portal to the starting zones capital city

Charisma

80/100

Defense

100/100

Will-power

85/100

Strength

200/300

Agility

200/300

Wisdom

85/100

Knowledge

95/100

Energy

400/400

Health

400/400

Mana (dagger equipped)

500/500 + ten ticks/ 3 seconds

Gold

167g 8s 31c

I found a bench and stared at my stats, there was no reason for some of them to be so high at level four. Something had happened when I drank the blood of the Vampire girl, it had changed me, I felt the same yet I also felt different, more focused and aware of what was happening all around me. My hearing was sharper and my vision seemed more acute. I was stronger, a lot stronger and judging by my stats more agile as well.

What I needed to do was find a bank, deposit the contents of my bag and then find an Inn. Having decided on what I should do I stood and walked towards the center of the square where I map of the city was place along with a board that had a number of available quests. By studying the map all the information was transferred to my map. I was curious about some of the quests but I had seen something on the map that had caught my attention. There were two Weapon Masters in the city, one located at the Hidden park and the other located on the Warrior’s terrace. The first Weapon Master taught Daggers, Swords and Maces. The second Weapon Master specialized in axes, polearms, staffs and spears.

I would be visiting both of them to upgrade my weapons skills, I thought as I headed to the bank. Once I arrived I stood in line for a couple of minutes before I reached the bank teller. She was a human with a figure to die for and a smile that lit up the room. I was not sure if she had been hired to bedazzle customers but she certainly worked her charm on me. Her being an npc did not even cross my mind as I stared at her. I finally tuned back in when she whistled at me and then asked, “Sir how may I help you?”

“I need to make a deposit please, I don’t have an account yet can we set it up?” I sounded lame even to my ears but for some reason, this girl reminded me of going on dates, and dancing at clubs and walking home in the early morning light. I stepped back and pinched the back of my hand hard. I was not sure why I was being so stupid, while I appreciated a pretty girl, I had not bothered to date anyone since Mandy and I broke up. Shaking my head I finished the transaction and left the bank with my bags empty and a puzzled look on my face.

The city was active with more and more players arriving, most of them were at level ten or higher. I would have to level up but I was not in a hurry, getting a game first achievement for hitting the level cap meant nothing to me. I just wanted to explore and quest. Walking into the Inn I was greeted by a barmaid who gave me a key to a room on the second floor. Thanking her, I walked up and entered my room. Locking the door, I put my gear on the table and stretched out on the bed. Setting the in-game alarm clock for an hour I closed my eyes and was asleep almost instantly.

My dreams were troubled, during my sleep I was flying in the body of a crow, circling a large building, a palace on the highest hill within the city. The crow landed and looked down from the open window set high in the wall. It was a room that held two men, Sir Langshank and a man who could only be the King, he wore a Crown and his level was a clearly visible one hundred. The crow leaned forward and listened to the men as they spoke.

Langshank was explaining, “This newcomer exceeded my expectations sire, I sent him out to explore an old mine, as we had received reports of wolves and rats nearby. It was a dangerous journey across the barren fields to the mine at his level but he managed. He found the mine to have an infestation of the filthy Rattacans, but that was dealt with before he left the mine.”

The king asked, “How did one level two manage to defeat a camp of Rattacans? It seems an impossibility to me.”

Langshank nodded his head and said, “It is impossible sire, Anon did not defeat the Rattacans a group of Vampires did, he was the witness to the massacre.”

The King was silent for a moment and then he spoke, “Vampires, I thought we had destroyed the last of them during the jungle war of Enoca, damn I was told they were gone. How did this lad manage to escape from the mine?”

Langshank answered with a simple statement, “Luck, the boy has the luck of the Goddess of Cards, and then something. There is something about him that is unusual, I took him to the Prior to let him hear the tale and the two did not get along. The Prior attempted to physically dominate Anon and probably due to pride left himself open to attack. I had to stop the lad from permanently ending the Priors life. The boy moved with grace and power, far beyond his level.” The crow continued to observe as the two men fell silent, and when the King finally spoke, both the crow and I heard every word.

“Langshank, has the boy been turned, is the horror back amongst us.” The Kings' voice was little more than a whisper as he asked the question.

“Sire, the boy is human, I rode with him through the day to arrive here, he is warm and the blood flows within his veins. He is not a Vampire.”

“Thank the Gods.” The king replied, “I would have destroyed him if you had any doubt, but still what would you have me do with him, there is a reason for you to bring him here to my city, what do you want to be done with him, my friend?”

Langshank smiled and said, “You know me, sire, nothing escapes you, my thoughts are for the lad to be made a King's squire and then assigned to the master of the tunnels, sewage, and water works department.”

The King began to laugh and the said, “You want him to become part of the department of dirty jobs. Is it wise to give him that kind of training, I prefer that my spies and assassins show their loyalty to the Crown over the course of years, not days.”

“Very true sir, however, his training does not need to be completed in all areas, I would have him level up and then start working in the field for me. If he survives the training and my assignments, we will have a notable asset on hand. I have a feeling about this one, I think he is special.”

The king nodded and then they stood and left the room, the crow also left, flying over the city, he gave me a panoramic view. Suddenly I was back in my body with the alarm softly chirping in my ear.

It was time to get up, get some food and do some exploring, it is always good to know where an escape hole is, I had a feeling I would need one soon.